Eight painters commonly referred to by the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou are: Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Shan Li, Li, Gao Xiang, Gao,. They have their own characteristics and unique achievements in art, but they have many similarities. Most of them come from the intellectual class. Some of them entered the imperial examination and eventually rejected the officialdom. Instead, I took clothes as my career all my life, not seeking fame, and finally set foot on Yangzhou Road to make a living by selling paintings. In art, I pay attention to expressing my heart, unconventional, unconstrained and unconstrained, and let go of my feelings. Social customs at that time were based on feudal orthodoxy, and if they were contrary to it, they were regarded as heresy and the world regarded them as "strange". However, their paintings are highly praised by the emerging industrial and commercial literati in Yangzhou.
During Qianlong and Jiaqing years in Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou salt industry entered its heyday. Wealthy salt merchants are keen on works of art, thus forming a strong purchasing power for works of art in Yangzhou. At that time, there were a group of professional painters in Yangzhou who made a living by selling paintings. Among them, eight outstanding representatives are Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Zheng Xie, Li Yi, Li, Wang and Gao Xianghe. They have similarities in life style, artistic viewpoint and painting style, so they formed a school-Yangzhou Painting School, which is customarily called "Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics". On the basis of learning and drawing lessons from the tradition, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou appeared in the painting circles of Qing Dynasty with lofty and unique style, and were regarded as "eccentrics" by the orthodox painting school advocating retro at that time. In the history of the development of painting art in China, they broke the routine, brought forth the new and created a generation of painting style, occupying an important position. They inherited the artistic tradition of literati painting and innovated the traditional theme of literati painting. In the composition and layout, poetry, books, paintings and seals are integrated; In terms of formal skills, it enriches the expressive force of ink freehand brushwork, and the pen is bold and unrestrained, giving people a refreshing feeling.